Mary Berry’s Banana Loaf

I always buy too many bananas with the intention of being healthy and eating them all, the good intention lasts about 36 hours and then I can’t be bothered with them. So what do you do when you have old bananas in your fruit bowl? Bake a Banana Loaf of course!

In times of baking need there is only one person to turn to for a recipe… that’s right Mary Berry and her baking bible, or ‘Mury Bury’ as she sounds in my Northern Irish accent! I have used several different recipes before, but most call for 3 bananas and I only have 2… but no fear – Mary comes up trumps!

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas 4.
2. Lightly grease a 2lb loaf tin, then line the base and sides with baking parchment
3. Measure all ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat for about 2 minutes, until well blended
4. Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the surface
5. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 1 hour, until well risen and golden brown. A fine skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean if the loaf is ready.
6. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out, peel of the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.

This was so easy to make and delicious, and there wasn’t much left of it by the time it was cooled on the rack!

I love cooking for family and friends but after watching Great British Bake Off it gave the courage to bake and I love it and this Banana Loaf was a real treat for my family as soon I bake anything it is gone literally in minutes so thank you 🙂

Hi, I haven’t tried making this with gluten free flour (yet!) but a few people have commented a while ago about making it with gluten free flour and all seem to have had success! Glad you enjoyed it, it’s so easy to make!

I have, the trick with GF flour is to add a bit more liquid. In this recipe I put 4tbsp of milk in and also make sure you are using GF baking powder or sub with xathan(sp?) gum
My Gluten eating friends have no idea it’s gluten free until I tell them 🙂

Made this cake for the first time tonight and the house smells amazing. I am allergic to wheat and use Dove self raising flour or any wheat free self raising flour just use in the same way swapping like for like. I do this with all cake recipes and never have an issue. Cannot wait to try this banan cake after reading all the reviews thanks everyone

I made this today with my 4 year old and she licked out the bowl. We added hemp seeds, almonds, raisins and a bit of vanilla essence and it’s so moist. Going to have to make this again as half of it is gone already – only came out of the oven about 2 hours ago.

I have made it again but didn’t have any caster sugar so have substituted with about 100ml of agave nectar. And have added blueberries – as they were there. Thanks for the recipe in the first place – it really is moist. If I wanted to make a gluten free version for my friend’s daughter – would the gluten free self raising flour work just as well? Or should I use something else?

My daughter introduced me to your banana cake while I was staying with her in Scotland, just arrived back to Wales and thought I would try it my-self.
Great result with very little effort. All gone within 30mins.
Thanks.

I’m new to baking..but I made my first lemon cake last week and it went down a storm… I wanted to bake this in the morning..can I use plain flour instead of self raising? I have baking powder..will that make it rise? All new to me!

Made 2 today, lovely, had to steal eggs from neighbour with promise to send a few slices round. Neighbours are Indian family who not made it before. She so impressed wanted recipe immediately, so your link been posted on my facebook page also encouraging others to give it a go. I added vanilla essence, mixed spice and a little cinnamon. Really yummy. Thanks xxx

I followed the recipe a few days ago. What an easy and simple bake. So thought I would make a few adjustments! I put three tablespoons of peanut butter in my and a tsp of vanilla essence. It was a big hit even with my mum who doesn’t like Banana loaf as it’s to heavy!

Thought I would try this recipe as I had a couple of over ripe bananas I needed to use up but was a bit worried because I’ve never made one before. But I needn’t have worried as it was so easy to make & turned out lovely. Will definitely be making it again!

I bake with my 7yr old very Monday and it’s always fairy cakes so I was desperate to try something different. I halved the recipe (except baking powder) made the mixture runny with extra milk and poured into muffin cases. I reduced the cooking time to 20mins. Worked a treat.

I have just baked this for the time using gluten free flour and substituting the baking powder for xanthum gum, as I am gluten intolerant. It’s come out beautifully and I cant wait to take it to my god daughters birthday party tomorrow now…

This is such a great recipe, I come back to it frequently. Just seen the comment about adding some peanut butter – inspired me to go try that right away!! I also replace the tablespoons of milk with some Rum to give it a slightly different dimension.

The last time I made a banana loaf it was a disaster, many years ago. With 5 small over ripe bananas looking well past their sell by date I decided to have another bash at banana loaf. This was the first site I came too and I have to agree that it is such an easy recipe. I doubled the mixture and substituted a few of the ingredients. I swapped a third of the flour with wholemeal and added approx. 30g of chopped mixed nuts. I also used a variation of golden cast sugar soft brown sugar and little bit of left over cane sugar and swapped the butter for Flora buttery which I often use in cake making as it is quite oily and gives a good moist result. The final ingredient was a generous teaspoon full of ground ginger. Result, Awesome.

The only recipe I use, and for someone who likes to try recipes once and not come back to them, this is a firm favourite. I always add cinnamon, and sprinkle a cinnamon-sugar mix on top. Makes the top really yummy and crispy and when you cut in it’s lovely, soft, and moist. Definitely the best recipe out there

Made this Banana Loaf yesterday and the family have scoffed it already! Thank you for a great recipe, it was lovely and moist and tasted amazing. Couldn’t believe that it turned out so well as it was my first attempt at making Banana Loaf.

I just made this recipe with gluten free flour so my 15yr old could have some. The 3 blokes in my home don’t do bananas, especially the brown ones. Instead of a loaf , I shared the mixture into small cake cases. They have eaten a few already and enjoyed them. Result! My mum made these for my brothers and me when we were younger. She would also add weetabix to the mixture , and give them to us when we wouldn’t eat breakfast, and we would eat them on the way to school, maybe my boys will do the same, as they never want to bother with breakfast either. Yummy, I’ll be taking some to work for heartbreak time.

Was sitting at the kitchen table noodling around on my iPad when I noticed 3 rather too-ripe-for-eating bananas in the fruit bowl. Promptly googled ‘banana cake’ and up popped this recipe. I scaled up the recipe to accommodate 3 bananas and added some chocolate chips and mixed spice. A loaf and round cake are baking as I type – will report back with the verdict of the taste test! Thanks for sharing and blogging!

This is my all time favourite cake receipe. I don’t bake much but this is so eat to make. I’ve got a loaf in the oven at the moment. I just wish I’d made enough for 2 as I’ve just read the comments and can’t wait to try it with some of the extra bits & pieces that people have used.

I’ve made this cake so many times and now I’ve added a little to improve it. I always add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and an extra banana (3 in total) to this recipe and as I have a fan oven I bake it at 160 for just 50 mins. It turns out perfect every time.

I’m 13 years old and I was looking for a recipe to make a banana loaf and I read through a few and this sounded easy so I tried and it came out
perfectly and tasted even better ! X so thank-you
for this easy perfect tasty recipe ! 🙂

I’ve made this banana loaf from your website many times and it’s always been fab 🙂 Today I needed to use up some defrosted stewed apple so made an apple variation….I added 2 tsp ground cinnamon, a portion of cold stewed apple (tried to guess approx 2 bananas worth!!) instead of the bananas and topped with a muscovado glaze (some dark muscovado sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla essence and tbsp cold water). The mixture was very wet but it baked in an hour and tasted delicious! Will have to try even more variations 🙂

I found this post while searching for an old recipe I used to use but couldn’t find again. Tried this one with half a tsp cinnamon and a handful of walnuts and it was delicious! I forgot to add the milk but it hasn’t seemed to matter. It’s come out lighter and fluffier than my old recipe – I love it! DDelicious warm from the oven last night and just had another slice with a cup of tea this morning and it’s yummy cold too. Think I may have to go buy some bananas to forget to eat so I have to make another loaf to use them up 🙂

I’ve made this several times lately, always yummy. Today I started writing it into my favourite recipe book and discovered it was identical to my late mothers recipe – I grew up on her banana bread Except she used 3 bananas which I have been doing anyway. She always served it with butter spread, not sure that is necessary but I’ve continued her habit!

Delicious with a capital D. Super, simple recipe. I kept a close eye on it from an hour into cooking but mine took and hour and a quarter at 160c in my Miele fanplus oven. Soft and moist in the middle. Browned nicely and well risen on the outside. Husband much appreciative!

I just made it one hour ago and was brill my mummy helped me and I brought it in for my p7 teacher mrs Hackett she loved it she told me to write it out and give it too her so I am going to tomorrow. Luv ya Merry Berry she should be the queen of food xx

Great easy recipe – made it to use up a bag of frozen bananas that I’d taken out of the freezer and forgot to put back in. I added a couple of handfuls of chopped chocolate because everything is better with chocolate! Really easy and quick so a big hit with me, delicious and healthy-ish so big hit with my boys!

Well what can I say. Tha fact that the cake was scoffed the moment I turned it out onto the cooling rack! Yummy, delicious, omg this is so good and you know what I didn’t even get a piece to taste. Yes indeed it is an amazingly tasty cake. Made it again and the second time round I made sure I got to taste it. It’s now my family’s favourite Friday brunch cake. I live in the UAE so our weekend is Fri/Sat. Thank you for a lovely recipe.

I loveeeee this recipe!!! Soo thanks for uploading, Ive baked it a few times now and it always goes down well with everyone! i personally perfered it with three bananas tho, also i added mixed spices and almond essence 🙂 and made a frosting for on top out of cream cheese icing sugar and a splash of lemmon juice 🙂 i used the same frosting for carrot cake its delious!

I made this bread today and was amazed at how yummy it was, especially when I opened the microwave to find the butter I’d softened to go in it! So my version was fat free, and still delicious! I’ll be making it without the butter from now on lol

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I'm Adele, a Northern Irish exile living in Edinburgh. I love baking, whisky, photography and travelling. You can also sometimes find me rambling about Whisky over on Braw Spirit!
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